It all started when I saw an artifact of an old depression-era instrumental online. It was a functional piece of art and I found that completely fascinating. I thought to myself ‘Wow, musicians back then didn’t have money and they were so limited in terms of resources that they had to create their own instruments!’ So I tried to build one in my painting studio, and that’s how I got started. The second instrument I created was done for my guitar teacher, in exchange for a couple of guitar lessons. He loved old Blues, ragtime music, and Jug bands who created upright basses with washbasins, broom handles, etc. It slowly took off from there, a passion that transformed itself-despite myself-into a business. 

The decision was, in a way, made for me. I always assumed that I’d eventually go back to my painting career. However, once I began building these instruments, I realized this work allowed me to interact with people and vendors (musicians and music stores) in ways that artists rarely experience. Artists tend to live a hermit-like existence. Most of your interactions are with gallery owners who sell and represent your work. You don’t know exactly where your work ends up; you get a check from time to time for a painting you sold but the entire transaction is somewhat anonymous. With this line of work, however, musicians can come to the studio and we can build an instrument together, as a collaboration. I love this type of customized work. Although I don’t paint anymore, I am still involved in the artistic field. We work with silk-screening techniques on some of the instruments, we also sculpt metal and wood and tie it to music. 

It’s a humble instrument with a simple construction. So much so, that anyone with basic crafting skills could attempt to make one at home. We started out very simply but as orders started to come, we experimented with more complex techniques. Seeing as the cigar box contains a relatively small sound box, it emits a sound that is somewhat nasally and is often associate with older types of music. But we’ve had heavy metal and jazz musicians stop by the studio as well! You can experiment, add pedals or play with different amplifiers and all of a sudden, you find yourselves with a completely different sound. It’s always surprising because you’re used to playing the instrument in a certain way and then someone approaches it completely differently. You realize that, with some tuning, the instrument can be adapted to any guitar player’s style. 

I would build two or three guitars per week and sell them on eBay, writing short stories about each piece to give them personality. Little by little, I managed to be able to pay my rent at home from the sale of the guitars. In 2006, Playboy Magazine approached me about writing an article on the instruments. I created a website so that their readers could come directly to me with inquiries, and all of a sudden about one hundred orders trickled in. I found an affordable space (I had been working out of my kitchen until then), got a good friend of mine to help construct the instruments and we purchased some basic machinery. We estimated that it would take us about three months to fill these orders after which we would go back to our careers. However, we realized that we loved working together and that we wanted to continue pursuing this venture. To increase visibility, we placed a few ads in some music magazines who in turn wrote up some nice reviews on our instruments, and all of a sudden our business was getting international attention. So this part-time, short-term business turned into a full-time gig. 

Yes! Although I was resistant at first, we now have a Facebook page that we use actively. It’s extraordinary because customers will leave testimonials on our page and discuss their purchases with other customers. It has allowed us to create a community around our products. The page is where we share studio pictures, discuss instruments that are in the process of being built, concerts that we’ve attended or things that inspire us at the moment. Our clients really appreciate these daily updates. It’s a starting point for many customer relationships: we connect with them there then direct them to our website where they’ll find all of our instrument's specifications. 

Most of the time, we’re the ones who approach them. When you’re just starting out, it’s can be beneficial to reach out to musicians you look up to and respect and that are visiting your city, especially those who might be interested in this type of instrument. You’ve got nothing to lose! We also typically approach musicians whose style is best suited for these types of guitars. This summer I offered one of my guitars to The Edge (of U2) and at first he wouldn’t accept it. We met by chance as he was in our building for a photo shoot and he got sort of uncomfortable I think when we offered him an instrument he had shown a particular interest in...his words were: oh no I can't accept it, this is too much".. Ultimately, we share a similar passion though and the questions he had about the instrument were the same as those asked by any other musician. He called the next day to say that he wanted to buy a second one. 

The key motivating factor remains a love for what I do every day. It’s true that we work in a very niche market but we’re always looking to expand, to collaborate, and to grow. In fact, I learned of an incredible project just last week. I met with a man who, instead of cutting down trees to make instruments and furniture, started dragging up wood from old trees that have fallen into the St-Lawrence River and settled at the bottom of its currents. Some have been there for over one hundred years and the water prevents the wood from rotting therefore keeping it intact. It’s a very stable wood and I love the idea of working with a material that has so much history; that has a soul. What’s also interesting is that when water spends a significant amount of time underwater, its pigment is altered, giving it a purplish hue that is uncommon for maple, which is usually white. I’m happy to announce that we’ll be creating a line of guitars with his wood. 

Guitar making has existed for over 200 years so it’s fair to say that we’re working with an old technology. We’ve added some new techniques including silk-screening, and sometimes we use car paint on our instruments in order to get brighter colors. I would love to launch a line of electric guitars in the near future. The idea of actually designing and drawing out an original body shapes for an instrument, something we can’t do with cigar box guitars, really appeals to us. It would tie in an illustrative component and allow us to find fluid forms and match them with a wood. We are also planning to launch a guitar tube amplifier with an art deco-inspired look that pays homage to amplifier from that era. But we’re not cutting our ties with cigar boxes! I think that we have an antique aesthetic and people appreciate more traditional methods, things that are made by hand, unique, high-quality and durable. None of our guitars are produced in a series and that’s how people like it. 

New technologies will always influence guitar makers. Now we have guitars with synthesizers and guitars with integrated effects, which is interesting but the sound has a manufactured quality to it that, for me, lacks charm. It is, however, important to find ways of being innovative within a traditional art form. guitar making is very old-school: walk into any guitar maker’s studio and you’ll see a guy sitting there in overalls, knife and hammer in hand, as he chisels away. But I also know some builders who are mixing engineering with traditional techniques to produce truly unique guitars. So I think that there’s a future for both traditional guitar makers and those who are looking to innovate. Regardless of what direction they take, I think that they can easily adapt. 

At first, everything was recycled or refurbished. I used old canvas frames to make the guitar necks, the cigar boxes were completely transformed and the nuts were made of screws that I used to fasten the guitar strings to. Over time, the business grew and the product became more streamlined, our clients expected higher quality furnishings. For me, however, the idea of creating instruments out of old wood found on riverbeds is ideal. As a guitar maker who works with wood on a daily basis, it’s impossible not to think about the ecological repercussions. Woods like ebony, often used for fingerboards and head plates of its deep hue, are endangered and thus very expensive and rare. More and more builders are working with local woods so there is no need to have them shipped from overseas. Except for Rosewood, currently all of the wood I use is local. 

I feel like my work already allows me to contribute in my own small way. Some mornings I wake up to find an email in my inbox with a picture of someone’s nephew with a note that reads “thank you for bringing the gift of music into our home.” I get emails like this on a pretty regular basis! Often in our day to day of running a business, we don’t realize that we’ve sent instruments all over the world and that they have a positive impact on people’s lives. We’ve also donated cigar boxes and wood to schools and from time to time run workshops with children. We've also worked with a school that aids children with disabilities through music therapy. Music can definitely be used as a therapy and spending time building guitars is also therapeutic...it's a very zen-like activity I find. I would love to try similar workshops in impoverished neighborhoods one day. After all, this is where these instruments were born.”